Automatic safety drilling head



May 26, 1925,

S. L. GOULD AiITOMATIG SAFETY DRILLING HEAD Filed Oct. 10, 1923 i I gwuehio'a 5.11. Gould.

Patented May 26, 1925.

UNITED STATES SILAS L. GOULD, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

AUTOMATIC SAFETY DBILLiNG HEAD.

Application filed October 10, 1923.- Serial No. 667,701.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SILAS L. GOULD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Safety Drilling Heads; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a head for the casing of deep wells such as'oil and gas, whereby the outflow may be readily controlled or shut off as required, thereby preventing material waste of the products through failure to quickly control or shut off the outflow in an emergency.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent and suggest themselves as the nature of the invention is understood.

While the drawings illustrate an embodiment of the invention it is to be understood that in adapting the same to meet different conditions and requirements, various changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spiritof the invention.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of the application:

Figure 1 is a vertical, central sectional view of an automatic safety drilling head embodying the invention,

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the pivoted valve adapted to be automatically operated. a

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and designated in the several views of the drawings by like reference characters.

The numeral 1 designates the well tube or casing and 2 the shell or casing of the safety head. The shell or casing 2 is provided with a lateral outlet 3 which is adapted to be closed by a gate valve 1 slidable in ways 5 at opposite sides of the outlet 3. A threaded stem 6 having swivel connection with the valve 4, enables control of the latter, said stem having screw thread connection with a cap 7 which is fitted to and closes the upper end of the casing 2.

The cap 7 is provided upon its inner or bottom side with a valve seat 8 in line with the opening of the cap. A collar 9 upon the outer or top side of the cap 7 in line with the opening thereof is internally screw threaded to receive a section-0f the Well tube or casing l.

A disk valve -10 is pivoted at 11 to the inner side of the cap ,7 and is adapted to positively moved by means of an operating member 13 which may consist of a cable, wire or analogous means, the same being attached to the valve and passin through 30 an opening provided in the cap% and extending to a determinate point for use when required. Y

lVhen sinking a well, the tube or casing is provided at its upper end with the safety 35 head and in an emergency, the well may be closed to prevent waste of oil or gas by means of the valve 10. The gate valve 4 provides for drawing off the products of the well in regulated quantity, as required.

It is observed that the safety head is coupled to the upper end of the well tube or casing, the tools operating therethrou h. The side valve 4 as well as the safety Va vs 10 are open'at all timesunder normal conditions. At the first sign of a gusher, the tools are removed and the valve 10 closed, thus direc ing the outflow through the lateral opening 3 which may be controlled at will by means of the valve 4.

l/Vhat is claimed is:

1. A safety device for oil and gas Wells comprising a shell adapted to be interposed in the length of the well tube orcasing and having an outlet, a valve pivotally mounted in the shell, said valve being normally free and vertically pendent and a lip on the free edge of said valve that is deflected inwardly with respect to the adjacent wall of the shell so that when the valve is in its pendent position the lip is in position to intercept the outflow of tha well toinitiat the closin of the valve and prevent waste of the ro not of the well.

, 2. A safety'head or oil and gas wells comprising a. shell open at one end and havin a lateraloutlet, a manually operated va W: for closing the-lateral outlet, a cap attached to. theopen end' of the shell and provided with an opening, a normally free and verticall endent valve pivoted -to the e cap and adapted to'elose lower side 0 the opening thereof, a liplon thefree edge of'said valve that is deflected inwardlg with respect to the adjacent wall of the s that when the valve is in its pendentpo-' 1 sition'the 1i fie well to-initiate the cl'osln tof thevalve and prevent waste of the mind of the well, and an operating rnem r associated with the ivoted valve and extending to a detern matepoint to admit of .operating said valve in an emergency.

I Gno. W. Dowxme. I

is in position to intereept-the All 

